I'm Addicted to Sugar

By Ewald Moors

A client wrote, "Help me! I thought I was finally getting a handle on my weight issue but the sugar is killing me. I had an awful day. I won't even tell you what I ate today because it is just so unbelievable. All I will say is that 90% of my food today consisted of sugar! I really, really need some help getting past these cravings. I am no doubt a sugar addict. If I could get past this there is no doubt that I will reach my goal."[]

If you see a little of yourself in this message, you're not alone. Many describe themselves as sugar addicts. They believe if it were only for that one thing, then they could reach their weight loss goals. If you believe only one thing stands in your way of losing weight, consider this: What if that one thing (an addiction to sugar for instance) were gone? Do you really believe, "If I could get past this, there is no doubt that I will reach my goal," or is it an easy excuse to stay stuck?If I told you I could show you a way to stop craving sugar, would you want me to show you how? Think about that for a moment. Close your eyes and really think it through. You've said if only you didn't crave sugar, then you could lose weight, but is that really true for you? Ask yourself these questions:

Eventually though, I managed to stay away. Among the last challenges: I really craved cigarettes when I was very stressed. And I was stressed a lot. And so I finally made a deal with myself. IF I simply HAD to smoke, I could -- ONE cigarette. And after that, it was back to all the Nicorette it took to get it back out of my system. It helped. Because, frankly, I didn't enjoy Nicorette at all.And finally, I started chewing a Nicorette instead of smoking a cigarette. And after a while, I stopped that too.Now with sugar, it's much the same thing. There's the taste, and then there's the physiological reaction. If you can manage to separate the two, it may take you along way on your path tame your sugar addiction.To eliminate the addiction factor, it was important to eliminate sugar completely, at least for a while. But would I really need to quit all the sweet stuff too?

Here's what I did instead. I experimented with "sugar-free" goodies. In moderate doses.It helped, believe me. Temptation was greatly reduced because sugar-free candy is harder to find than the regular kind, and the selection isn't quite as yummy either.Once I made the commitment to forego all sugar, it was easy. Eating sugar was not an option, yet I knew if I wanted a treat, I could get it later (or sometimes even bring it along). It's easy to say "no" when the answer is clear. It's much harder to negotiate portions, at least for me.

In addition, the sugar-free candy didn't trigger my addiction. I got the flavor, but my body didn't get involved. it didn't clamor for more, more, more.This may vary a bit though, from person to person. I found that stevia works best in terms of not triggering addictive reactions. Many people have found aspartame more problematic. You'll just have to experiment -- and be observant and honest with what you find.

And with certain sweeteners, notably sugar alcohols (no close relation with the real alcohol), you may not WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much leads to major belly aches.And then there's another big step, to be taken gradually and eventually, as you get ready for it:Wean yourself off the sweet stuff altogether. Much like I eventually quit Nicorette, and became a non-smoker for real.Also realize that no matter what, the temptation will always be there, or return occasionally. That's normal. Just ignore it.

It took me most of my adult life to come to the realization that I was an addict - out of control, unable to resist a seductive, toxic substance. I used it daily and relied on it to make everything right. No matter how bad I felt after the buzz wore off, I did not stop. I had to have it. Was I hooked on cocaine, heroine, crack, or crystal meth? Nothing so obvious. In a way, my substance was more insidious because it is widely used, labeled by the Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe," and often invisible. I am talking about processed sugar.Unless you are consciously avoiding sugar, you eat it all day, every day of your life. According to the American Dietetic Association, the average American consumes in excess of 130 pounds of sugar a year; in other words, 6 ounces a day or 2.6 pounds a week. Over 70% of all processed foods contain some form of sugar because it is used as a preservative, flavor enhancer, fruit plumper, acid reducer, curing agent, fermentation medium, crust colorant, moisture holder, shelf-life extender, and provider of bulk, texture and body.

I have always loved sugar in any form, from fudgicles to birthday cake to spoonfuls of brown sugar right from the box. My early love affair with it never seemed a problem until my 20s when I developed constant headaches. They were present upon rising and going to bed, often erupting during the day into migraines. As a result, I ate analgesics (which contain 65 mg. of caffeine per tablet) by the handful, upwards of twelve a day, every day. In addition, my periods were getting worse with simulated labor pains and water-weight gain up to 10 pounds. Anxiety insinuated itself into my every thought.I worried about the occurrence of the improbable and impossible. Depression slowly settled a dark, suffocating blanket over me. By the time I was in my 30s, I had run the gamut of neurological tests, but nothing revealed itself or helped. (No one asked about my diet.) I was tired all the time, weak, and cried at a moment's notice. To comfort myself I ate some Brach's Bridge Mix, 'Nilla Wafers, or Breyer's Fudge Swirl Ice Milk, only now in larger portions and more frequently to round off the sharp corners.As I turned 40, I developed night sweats, a 120-beats-per-minute heart rate, and insomnia. A prescription for the generic beta-blocker propranolol slowed my racing heart in between binges. By this time I was eating all the sugar-laden food I could lay my hands on. If I did not have candy around, I would go to the store at any time in any weather to get it, bake a coffee cake, or eat raw sugar. Heartburn and gas were a constant problem.

There are studies that claim children today, because of their eating habits, might not have the life span of their parents. Don't let that happen to the ones you love.Are you and your family addicted to sugar and other refined products that can alter your health. If you and they are, I urge you to learn all you can about making changes in your daily eating routine.This makes me sad and of course I worry about my grandchildren and their friends. That's why I have spent the last couple years researching studies done about health and eating. I have been writing articles, studying reports, publishing information and gaining attention on the issue of changing eating habits. It's all in hopes people will become aware of how their daily food intake can effect their health.

Having had my first heart attack at 48, in 1985, and eventually having more attacks and trips to the hospital to have a total of 6 stents* inserted in my heart, I began a pilgrimage to improve my health.A stent is a small metal mesh tube that acts as a scaffold to provide support inside your coronary artery. A balloon catheter, placed over a guide wire, is used to insert the stent into the narrowed coronary artery.Presently I am 74, thankful for the stents to give me better heart health and for the extensive research I've done to learn about the power of food to heal. I've come to believe that good nutrition can increase all areas of your life such as energy, awareness, inhibit and/or delay Alzheimer's, and make living longer a joy filled experience.It isn't just about looking good, it's about living longer and healthier. It's about having healthier children and especially about not having your children live less years than you. Think about it.

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Why And How To Stop Smoking

By Zeynel Bakema

Do you want to learn how to stop smoking cigarettes? How frequently have you declared to yourself or somebody else, "I really need to give up cigarettes," only to do a flip-flop and smoke yet another cigarette? In the event that you are similar to many cigarette smokers, your answer will be: "A great deal more times than I am comfortable with." You are certainly not alone. Research shows that about 90% of current smokers have a desire to kick their smoking addiction. The lucky reality is: By putting forth a little bit of effort and a lot of devotion, anyone could ultimately figure out how to stop smoking cigarettes and lead a more healthy life as a recovering smoker. If you are dead set on quitting, here is a complete quit smoking plan to help you kick your nicotine addiction to the curb and stop smoking cigarettes forever.[]

I don't believe that these campaigns even help to prevent youngsters from starting to smoke either, every youngster knows that one experimental cigarette won't get them hooked, and when they light it up and see how bad it tastes, they further believe they aren't going to get hooked, so it is OK for them to smoke a few more experimental ones. No, the real reason to stop smoking, is because anybody who smokes has fallen victim to the biggest and most powerful trap that man and nature ever conspired together to create. The nicotine trap. We are brainwashed from an early age into believing that cigarettes are precious and give immense pleasure, and that this is where the addiction comes from. A dying man in a movie is always given a cigarette, the last request of a doomed man is for a cigarette. Our conscious minds might not notice the message, but our subconscious takes it in.

Furthermore, we are always reminded how difficult quitting is, how reliant our body is on cigarettes. The thought that our body can be reliant on anything but water, food and sleep, is a strange thought to me. This is how confusing the message has got.In truth, if you are smoking, you are just putting a poison into your body, a very addictive one at that, and the pleasure DOES NOT COME until you extinguish that cigarette, forcing the nicotine to rapidly leave your body and your brain to begin to crave nicotine, which in turn makes you light up another one, and there is the pleasure, the relief at ending the cravings.

You didn't enjoy your first cigarette did you? The more you smoked, the more pleasurable smoking seemed to be, why was that?Simply because the more established the circle of craving became, the more you thought you enjoyed smoking, but you were in fact just ending cravings.So why quit smoking? Because there is nothing to quit. Why put something that is terrible into your body, once you have realised it is doing nothing? why pay through your nose to poison yourself when there are no advantages at all? Does it make sense? The question is not WHY quit smoking, but WHY KEEP SMOKING? As for the HOW to quit smoking, that is simple to. Just stop smoking. Read Allen Carr's book for more information if you do not believe what I am saying here, because everything I have learned came from him, and I failed to quit so many times until I read his book.

You really have been brainwashed. Question everything you think you know about smoking, see a cigarette for what it really is. NOTHING.Virtually every smoker in the world would pay a good price for the answer to "how to quit smoking easily". Whilst studies have indicated that as many as 80% of smokers yearn to quit, unfortunately, they spend very little time or money on trying to quit.

Internet search engine data suggests that quit smoking information is searched for more than twice as much during the 4-week period around New Year. The sad fact of the matter is that most smokers have a look for information and end up reading the same tired old advice about how to quit smoking - and that it isn't easy. Unfortunately, most of this information is based on why they should quit smoking. They then fail to quit smoking and leave it another year before having another go.

Apart from the element of 'saving face,' chances are high that you will enhance your degree of support by bordering on an ex nicotine user who comprehends the great importance of your recovery. Having non-smoking buddies, kin, and colleagues with whom to hang out without the presence of cigarettes will prove to be an invaluable tool in your plan of recovery.How to Stop Smoking Cigarettes Step 5: Plan Your Alternative Actions.Beginning recovery from smoking addiction is significantly about coming up with something else in which to engage besides cigarette smoking. Identifying the difference between self-promoting contrary actions and health damaging alternative actions will save you from 'replacing addictive habits' while applying improvements in your life that will bring about your overall contentment living life as an ex nicotine user.

Secondly, if you want to know how to quit smoking easily, telling you that you are killing yourself smoking is not going to make it any easier. Of course all smokers these days know that they are doing harm to themselves - that is why they all want to quit smoking. The "health police" go around reminding smokers that they are doing all this harm to themselves does not help them quit smoking.In fact, it doesn't help smokers in any way quit smoking by telling them what damage they are doing to themselves. The only way to help someone in such a predicament is to tell him or her HOW to quit smoking. After all, every smoker in the world knows WHY he or she should quit smoking. The 'health police' never seem to have an answer for this.

Thirdly, if you want to know how to quit smoking easily, you have to change your attitude towards cigarettes. That is all done in your head - by changing the way you think about cigarettes. Taking pills or taking more nicotine in another form does not do it - changing your mindset does.I know people who have said they will quit smoking cigarettes and only 'have a cigar or two once in a while'. Within a couple of weeks of giving up cigarettes, they are smoking 10 cigars a day that probably do more damage than the 20 cigarettes they used to smoke. This is because they are addicted to nicotine and will get it in any form they can Fourthly, possibly the most important means of how to quit smoking easily, is to accept your life without cigarettes. After all, you weren't puffing away on a Marlboro when you were born. It just might be possible to spend the rest of your life without cigarettes.As ever, my final piece of advice is to never quit trying to quit smoking.

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